


An Analog Adventure

by sleeperservice



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, First Dates, First Kiss, M/M, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-22 08:00:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13162692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeperservice/pseuds/sleeperservice
Summary: First they get assigned to a room with a single bed, then they find out the TV won't let them hook up the PS4. What are two young gamers to do with their night?





	An Analog Adventure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kingsoftheimpossible](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingsoftheimpossible/gifts).



> Events take place on a fictionalized version of October 30, 2017.

The minute Nikolaj and Patrik walked into the room they knew something was wrong. The room only had one bed, a king size that took up the majority of the space. The hotel the team used in St. Paul was old and had small rooms, but the bed made this one feel extremely tiny.

"This is a mistake. We should really ask for the correct room," Nikolaj said to Patrik.

Patrik shook his head. "I don't really mind sharing a bed with you. It's big enough that you can stick with one end and I can stick to the other. And you know, every time we stay here, I have to use that little bench they give us in the double room to put my feet on. Fancy place like this and they give us kid beds."

"They aren't that bad," Nikolaj said.

"You're enough shorter than I am that you don't mind, but _I do_ ," Patrik replied.

"If we said something to the team maybe they'd give each of us our own rooms here. It's just something to think about. I don't think the rooms in this place are big enough for a double queen room like in normal hotels."

Patrik dropped the bag with his PS4 in it on the chair near the window and looked out onto the park. "It's windy out there. Good thing we're staying inside with this." He petted the console's bag.

Nikolaj was looking forward to the gaming. The Jets' schedule had been so odd in the previous week, with 5 days off and then a back-to-back on the road, back home, and then this little tiny road trip to Minnesota, that they hadn't had a lot of time to play games in the same space. He enjoyed playing against Patrik online when they were at home but there was nothing like sitting on the end of the bed with him and being close to him and competing with each other. To be honest, there was really nothing like being with Patrik at all, even if they weren't gaming.

His feelings weren't something he could just bring up out of the blue. It may have started as an unwanted crush, but at this point Nikolaj wouldn't have known what to do without those feelings. He couldn't figure out how Patrik felt, not yet. He started unpacking his bag.

Patrik always hooked up the console first before he paid attention to the rest of his luggage. The hooking up was not going well. "We've been on so many trips here and I've hooked it up to this model of TV how many times, and this time it does not work. Niki, help me out here."

Nikolaj went over and took a look at it. "This is the way we always do it. Either our HDMI cable's bad or it's the port on the TV. But if we swap ports, it's going to throw the TV system off, and if we forget to hook it back up when we leave, that's going to cause trouble for someone else, and I don't want to do that. We could complain, but...."

Patrik finished the thought. "Then they'd give us a different room and I am not staying in the nation's fanciest children's holiday cottage again."

Nikolaj bit back the response he had handy, that technically Patrik, being still a teenager, may count as a child to some people. He was, most definitely, not a child in any way. Not to Nikolaj. "So, we're okay with not gaming tonight then. What are we going to do?"

"If we are going to leave, we should probably do it now. You'll probably get blown halfway across the city if we wait until after dark." Patrik was looking at something on his phone.

Nikolaj gave Patrik a dirty look. "Are you saying I'm skinny?"

"I'm not saying, but I'm not not saying, I guess. You can always hold on to me if the wind blows too much."

"I just may take you up on that. So, any ideas yet?"

"There's a coffee shop about a block from here. Let's have some decent coffee and then we'll plan the rest of our evening from there. It's open for a few hours more."

  


Patrik had been right about the gusting wind. St. Paul didn't have a lot of extremely tall buildings, but it had enough normally tall buildings, and the wind blowing down Fifth Street was of the umbrella-wrecking, small-child-pushing variety. People were rushing to get out of town. Across the street from the hotel, people had been on the plaza lined up and waiting for buses; most of the people on the street now were heading for either dinner or the nearby light rail station.

The coffee shop had few people sitting in it. Most of the people in line were taking their coffee to go. Nikolaj and Patrik were staying.

"We've been here before, right?" Nikolaj asked.

"Yeah. It's the only coffee shop around with something that looks like normal hours. There really is nothing open around here. The library in the other direction was open, but there's nowhere to get coffee in there anymore."

"There used to be?"

"I asked around about things on our first trip here, and you know how people like to talk about what used to be here and what isn't. Which does no good if you want to know about now, but at least I know this place is here."

Nikolaj sipped his coffee. "Although I've never heard of this chain before. Not a Starbucks in sight."

"It's a Minnesota thing, I think. No independents around here either that are open after lunch." Patrik was sitting where he could look out the front of the shop. "It looks dead out there."

"It is." Nikolaj was looking up local landmarks on his phone. "There's a lot of restaurants around here. And a few bars, but we both know that we're not really interested in that."

"That and everyone and their dog knows I'm still nineteen. What's the use in looking older when it won't do any good?"

Nikolaj laughed. "There's lots of use in it. Not that use, but maybe people take you a bit more seriously?"

"It's usually my play that gets them to take me seriously. Not off-ice."

"I take you seriously!"

"We're best friends, of course you do." Patrik touched Nikolaj's hand across the table. "And I appreciate it."

"It's what friends are for. Either to build you up when you don't need it or to cut you down at the times you don't need that either."

Patrik laughed and shook his head. "I thought it was the other way around."

"That too. So it really depends on what you want out of this night, where we should eat. Japanese, Italian, fancy overpriced stuff in the hotel restaurant...."

"The wind looks really bad. We should probably head back soon. The hotel actually sounds fine to me."

"It's more date night food. We're going to blow the per diem for both days of this trip on the dinner."

Patrik gave him a calculating look. "I don't mind."

Nikolaj called the restaurant to check on reservations while Patrik put their coffee cups in the trash. They were fortunate that they could get in right away.

When they walked out of the coffee shop, a gust of wind pushed Nikolaj back into the door. He grabbed Patrik's hand. "You said I could hold on!"

"I meant it too." Patrik tightened his grip and they walked down the block hand in hand.

  


Nikolaj's estimation of the restaurant from its menu proved to be correct. It was indeed either a business sort of place or a couples sort of place, and they had definitely seated them in the section that best suited couples. It did feel like a date night, if Nikolaj wanted to be honest with himself. Was Patrik dropping hints? Was he picking them up correctly? All the little touches, the holding hands, the being completely all right with blowing all their money on a fancy dinner for two--not to mention the willingness to share a bed. He would have to ask Patrik what was going on in a more private setting than the restaurant.

At that moment, Patrik was far too busy demolishing his dinner to say much. He had ordered the biggest steak on the menu and appeared to be happy with it. Nikolaj had ordered something a bit less expensive, but still satisfying enough. The food was good but he questioned why it had to cost so much. It wasn't any better than a lot of other places. It must be an added price for the reputation and the setting. They had a whole "glamour of the past" theme going around at this hotel. So glamorous that they knocked out the HDMI ports on the TV just to force them to interact with each other, maybe.

"Do you want dessert?" Patrik asked.

"Not really. It's probably going to be the size of an SD card and cost about twice as much."

"Yeah. There are other places to get breakfast around here and we can load up on sweets then if you want."

"Sounds good. We should probably head back to the room when we're done."

Patrik hadn't looked at his phone the entire dinner. He had mostly looked at his dinner, and occasionally at Nikolaj. It had been the same way for Nikolaj. Right now, they were both looking at their phones, at the weather. It was still windy.

"I see what you see," Patrik said. "We can watch and listen to all that wind from the room."

The check came. It was pre-split into two. Nikolaj had wanted to pay for Patrik, but if he brought it up now when everything was so conveniently split for them there would be questions. They each paid for their own food and then headed to the elevators.

They got in the elevator and the door closed behind them. The elevator felt like it was moving at a crawl. Patrik blinked a few times and then bent his head down and quickly kissed Nikolaj on the lips. Patrik's soft beard tickled, a little bit, but it was an interesting sensation. He reciprocated the kiss, deeper this time, and he could see Patrik's eyes close in overwhelmed emotion.

Patrik pulled away first. "I'm so glad I didn't read you wrong."

"I'm glad I didn't too." Nikolaj looked at the elevator buttons. The elevator hadn't moved at all. They had forgotten to press the button for the floor.

Patrik pressed the button for the 7th floor sheepishly. "I was so concerned with the right moment I forgot what we were in here for."

"What are we going to do once we get there?"

"I'd like to, um, you know...." Patrik flushed. "But it's late and I didn't bring anything to use and it's my first time with, you know, a guy, and...." The elevator door opened.

"Not the same for me, you won't be the first," Nikolaj said as they walked out of the elevator. "But I also didn't bring anything and we're kind of nervous and tired and I really don't want to go out right now. We'll plan for the next road trip, okay? I want it to be good for you. Good for _us_."

Patrik nodded as he put the key card into the door. "Okay. We can do that."

Nikolaj closed the door behind them. "I don't want this to be too weird. We can still share the bed tonight. You were really looking forward to it. So am I, now we know we both want it. And we don't have to stick to a side."

"At least I won't have to dangle my feet over the side with this. And we both seem to run hot, so we won't get cold." Patrik was stripping down to his underwear. He normally didn't wear only underwear to bed. He was indeed taking this seriously.

Nikolaj followed his lead. "The wind won't get us here." He laughed.

"No, it won't."

  


They eventually got into bed, together, turning off the lights and seeing the faint city lights from around the park peeking in through the edges of the curtains. Nikolaj couldn't hear the wind over the gentle sound of Patrik's breathing as Patrik spooned around him, his firm solid form radiating heat and comfort and the fine hair of his body softly brushing him. This was the closeness they had been trying to get to for over a year, what they had wanted but never quite got around to asking. Nikolaj wanted this on every roadie for the rest of the season. Maybe he'd want this for every night of his life. For now, he'd take until the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to adeleblaircassiedanser for the beta!


End file.
